


Paternity Quest

by BardChild



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Gen, Gen Work, Genderqueer, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardChild/pseuds/BardChild
Summary: Hypnos gets knocked up and Zagreus and Thanatos take bets.(Birth scene no sex or violence mildly graphic)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 84





	Paternity Quest

**Author's Note:**

> Been 7 years since I posted anything god. Self indulgence kink stuff cthonic gods can have whatever junk they want. Meet me in the pit.

The chatter in the lounge filled Zagreus’s ears as he sipped the warmed nectar taking a moment of reprieve from the long slog through the underworld. Burn-Flingers got him again in Asphodel. He looks at the shades wandering in and out and for a moment lost in thought he almost misses what he hears. 

“ _ Did you hear about Lord Hypnos?” _

__ _ “No? What did he do this time?”  _

__ _ “Well rumor has it he got himself into a spot of trouble … we'll see soon enough in nine months’ time.”  _

The snickering laughs from the shades made Zagreus take a deep pause at what he heard. No this can’t be right. I mean, not Hypnos. 

“So, Than, maybe I’m wrong,, but I swore your brother was male.” The statement caught Thanatos off guard, his cold gaze looked over at the face of the Prince of Hell with the kind of bothered expression one would get from a stupid statement. The kind he hears from Hypnos actually. The slow sound of the Styx filled the air as the two sat in the courtyard. 

“Of course my brother is male, what the hell are you carrying on about?” Than sneered. Zagreus for a moment thought maybe he was wrong about what he heard, but pressed on. He wasn't one to hold onto a doubt, but to give it clarity.

“Shades are gossiping in the lounge, and I thought I heard them talk about your brother getting into a right spot, and that it would be resolved in nine months' time. I might have jumped to conclusions but—"

“Oh Blood and Darkness, that damn idiot. Of course it was a matter of time before it happened again.” 

Zagreus looked aghast, “Again!? What do you mean?” 

“The damn fool, got pregnant again. Yes he is male, Zagreus, but he doesn’t have to—well, we are the children of Chaos, we are descended from them and so we tend to, ah, not have traditional appearances. And no, you are not  _ ever  _ going to see me without my vestments, don’t bother asking.” 

“Well I won’t, thank you.” He was going to, though. “But, this has happened before?” 

“Yes, but you might want to hear it from him directly. I am not feeding the rumor mill, I got work to do anyway.” 

Zagreus made a face, but Than was right. If he wanted to know more, he had to ask Hypnos directly. 

Which is why Zagreus had knots in his gut when he saw Hypnos by the Pool of Styx, dozing off again. He was one of the good things about walking out of the Styx, his sleepy cheer was such a refreshing delight and Zagreus was normally eager to see it. 

“How goes it Hypnos!” 

“GAH! I’m up! Oh Zagreus, you gonna try another attempt soon? I’ll try to leave you some extra comfy towels when you wade out again.” 

“Thanks, I appreciate that, but I have a question for you.” 

“Oh?” He rubbed his sleepy lavender face, eyes poppy red and droopy as he smiled in the same wide easy grin. “Suppose you want details about the Hydra. Well I can tell you one thing, you don’t want to get hit with either of those heads.” 

“No. Uh, well there is no easy way of going about this I suppose but, are you well, pregnant?” Zagreus said it slowly, under his breath. 

Hypnos blinked, his expression still the same dozy face he usually had but then he giggled, a half-cocked smile forming on his lips as he ran his fingers through his white fluffy locks. 

“Yeah, I guess the cat is out of the bag. I suppose someone was going to find out, and you know how rumors spread.” 

“How? I mean I assumed you’re a male god, but I was informed that you could indeed bear children, and that it’s happened before?” Zag asked but Hypnos scoffed. 

“Do you know how many times Zeus wound up pregnant himself? Trust me, gods are not bound to mortal biology, and mine tends to be rather strange.” A cough. ”I had a fling and bore a child several millennia ago. I don’t … remember much. I think I fell asleep when they were born?” Hypnos explained.

Zagreus blinked. He would never expect anyone falling asleep during labor, but Hypnos was good at getting a nap in at the wrong time. 

“Do you know who the father is?” 

“Err? The sire? Uh.” Hypnos, who had an easy face through the whole conversation, looked more embarrassed. He rubbed his neck, looking more at the shades than at Zagreus. “Well, you see Zagreus, I am both the best and worst lover. I am usually pretty attentive in bed, but sometimes I just fall asleep and usually let people do what they want. My last sire was a Titan and that is all I remember. I won’t go into details, but generally I usually make sure we’re in agreement and well.” He shrugged sheepishly, leaving Zagreus stunned by all of this.

Not only Zagreus, but also Achilles, who overheard. His soft warm voice came towards them as he was returning to his post from break. 

“You don’t know who you slept with, lad? That sounds awfully risky. What if some horrible person harms you or takes advantage?” Zag nodded and agreed with him, which only made Hypnos frown a little before going back to his dopey grin. 

“Well, usually if I agree to it before I snooze, so it's not non consenting.  _ But  _ if someone thinks they can help themselves for seconds without asking, they usually wind up with horrifying nightmares that never get relief or sleep from. So the problem is solved with that.” 

Yeah Zagreus wasn’t sure if that was better. Achllies seemed relieved but also worried at the same time. 

“Well, I am still concerned but it seems to not to be my business. I do have to ask, lad. Does Nyx know?” 

Nyx did know, as her response was a candid one. 

“My son tends to find pleasure in strange places. He often sneaks among mortals, finding those with restless sleep and granting them more peaceful ones for his pleasure. He used to do the same for the Olympians, though he really has not been called for his services in a long time.” 

Zagreus wasn’t sure how he felt about hearing Hypnos trading sex for good sleep, or that it was his mother describing it, but it did put context to his proclivities. Hypnos got satisfied, and whoever he was with got good rest for the rest of their life, or their immortal existence.

“So the list is very broad, but I can narrow it down to Titans, Heroes and Gods.” 

“I don’t understand why I am being dragged into this, Zagreus. Can’t you leave my brother alone?” Thanatos' expression was his typical sour grimace, but now tinged with embarrassment as he hovered by a table in the lounge. He saw the quick letters as Zagreus wrote things down onto a sheet of parchment. “Shouldn’t you be getting your ass handed to you by Meg again?” he quipped.

“What are the odds Meg is the sire?” wondered Zagreus, which only made Thanatos scoff. 

“Astronomical.” His words were icy, but he still scanned the list and sighed, thawing a little. 

“Titans, well. My brother and I are ancient. The Titans tend to be more open and less rigid than the Olympians, so it's not uncommon for him to have dalliances with them in Tartarus. I have seen him in Elysian giving succor to shades.” 

Zagreus rubbed his chin and returned to the list of options.. 

“You think he would sleep with the Furies?” 

“He does love punishment, but no. I don’t think they would go near him. Wouldn’t trust Alecto, but it's not unheard of. Hmmm, might be a shade. He might have convinced Thesus. Doesn’t take much to fluff his ego.” 

That got a snort from Zagreus who wrote that name down, quirking a smile at Thanatos. 

“You think he made Asterius watch?” That earned him a laugh, and Thanatos’s dry smile grew wider. 

“I bet he helped.” 

“Darkness, if Hypnos is carrying Minotaur’s child…” 

“I doubt it, shades are nearly that. But … being children of Chaos.” 

Yeah, Zag thought, anything could happen. 

  
  
  
  


Time didn’t really flow normally in the House of Hades. Zagreus wondered if it was Chronos’ influence down the bowels of Tartarus. Nevertheless, when he waddled out of the Pool of Styx cursing that damned Bone Hydra, his eyes were drawn to the side of the hall Hypnos usually stood. When saw Hypnos drowsily looking at his list, it was hard to miss that enough time had passed. Even under his big fluffy cape, Zagreus could see Hypnos’s swollen midsection. 

“Ah, Hypnos. Um, I see you’re due soon?” Zagreus asked, looking at him as Hypnos used his magic quill to write. There a cup of nectar balanced precariously on his belly. 

“Oh, haha, yeah probably. Kid comes out when it wants to come out.” 

“You mean to tell me that you don’t know when the child is to be born?” 

“Oh I’ll know, it's just it's different every time. I mean this one is ready to go any day I think, but I won’t know until it happens.”

Zagreus pushed on with the next question. 

“So. Do you … actually go through with it?” 

“Huh, go through with what?” Hypnos questioned, while he counted a few shades in his line as the all wandered up towards brooding dark Hades. 

“Well. Do you actually, um, give birth?” This was probably a very intimate and personal question, and Zagreus realized that maybe he shouldn’t have asked. But Hypnos took it in stride and grinned, rubbing his belly. 

“Oh yeah, the last one was huge. I mean, being the child of a Titan, that wasn’t a surprise. Usually I find who the other parent is when the kid pops out.” 

The casualness of it threw Zagreus off a little, but he took it with a grin. If Hypnos wasn’t worried, why should he be?

“Who raises the child? I am assuming you give them up for adoption?” 

“Oh, usually a nymph or minor demigod picks it up. Once gave one to a mortal to raise. I think I was told one of the minor deities was going to take it at the Temple of Styx.” 

So not even the other parent wanted it. Zagreus found it peculiar, but these gods were vastly ancient. To them a single child was a grain of sand, in the vast cosmos. Not that it was inherently wrong or anything. The primordial gods operated a bit differently. 

  
  


Hypnos found the questions to be a bit invasive, but he really didn’t mind. That was the least of his problems. Currently at the top of his list was convincing Lord Hades to let him go into the dark of Master Chaos’s realm to have his child in relative peace. He hoped his mother could advocate for him. She usually did.

Nyx could sense his discomfort. Mother Night saw him pacing in the West Hall, his quilted cape snuggled around his thin shoulders as he was lost in thought.

“I see you have requested your absence, yet remain.” Her voice deep like the midnight sky in the mountains of Crete. Hypnos lazily shrugged.

“I mean if I drop my waters right in the foyer, I am sure he’ll take notice.” 

“I pray for your sake my son, that it will not come to that. I know when this happens you are in a lot of discomfort and your labors are slow. I am assuming you have long been at its threshold for some time.” Her words comforted him, and Hypnos dropped his guard just enough to show a tight and worried grin. 

“Hey what can I say mom, sometimes the kid just hates getting out of bed. I know I do.” Hypnos had been on the cusp of his labor for a long time. Weeks, a few days, hours? He didn’t know, but he was sure that the kid was knocking. Ready or not, he could feel it. He looked for any way to leave quickly, and maybe he had an answer. 

Hypnos found Zagreus in the courtyard, picking up his weapons for his next delve into Tartarus.

“Hey, so, I need to get to Master Chaos’s realm, and you know how much of an enigma they are so wonder if I can just poke along with you as you make your way. I can’t always ping on where they are so if I can tag along …?.” 

Zagreus turned his gaze to Hypnos as he picked up Stygius. 

“Why can’t Nyx teleport you there?” Zagreus asked, as he started toward the gate. Skelly’s wide eyes were trained on the rounded god of sleep. 

“Well, I mean, she can. When she knows where they are. But, you know … they are, uh, hard to reach.” Truth be told, Hypnos needed an escort. He couldn’t wander around the depths of Hell looking for one of Chaos’s portals, not like this. Following Zagreus was the best option. 

“So you’re asking me to help you find them? Why?” 

“Well, uh, you see, here. I’m kind of in a pickle right now, and dropping my kid, you know, right there in the West Hall is kind of messy, and Dusa doesn’t need to clean that up.”

Hypnos chuckled when he saw Zagreus’s eyebrows shoot up. 

Zagreus’s mismatched eyes darted around, as if trying to find one of the strange portals here in the courtyard. He stumbled over his words, fingers combing through his hair.. 

“You’re in labor?! For how long?” 

“Eh, maybe a few hours? Or a week? I dunno, I just need to head to Chaos. It's quiet there, and I can have my kid without a lot of fanfare, ya know?” 

Zagreus understood, but he wasn’t sure how far he could get with a pregnant sleep god in tow. 

Turned out he could get pretty far. Zagreus mowed through wretches of all kinds. Louts, Thugs and Witches all got a taste of Stygius. Hypnos, for his part, faded into the deep shadows, moving well out of the way. He saw the shades, but they didn’t see him. He was like the lurking thing that followed some sleepers into their dreams, that deep unsettling presence in the back of one’s mind, as he trailed Zagreus through Taratus. His poppy red eyes glowed like dreaming dread in the dark of each chamber. 

It was one Zagreus cleared out of Brimstone where he saw the strange portal. 

“Ah Ha! Well met, there it is Hypnos.” The portal flicked open. Zag hated paying the cost, but when Hypnos approached the fee of life energy was paid. 

“I’ll pick up the tab today, you’ll pay me back later.” 

Into the formless dark and gentle void they plunged. Zagreus could feel the presence of Chaos in the peaceful gloom. He’d already walked to the glowing message to talk to them when he saw Hypnos moving to part of the realm he hadn’t explored or wasn’t previously privy to. Zagreus stopped, battling his thoughts as he reasoned with himself why he shouldn’t follow. Eventually, curiosity gave out. 

Hypnos mostly followed instinct at this point. He was grateful he managed to find the portal before Asphodel; he was already getting rather sleepy and no one liked sleeping in that heat. Hypnos laid his cape down on a stretch of void that would serve him well. Adjusting his robes, he laid against a pole made of … something …. He wouldn’t know. But the deep darkness and the gentle sway of oblivion helped Hypnos relax. 

“Man … I could really drift off in here,” he said with a yawn.

That was, until the next contraction hit, and they grew faster and heavier after that.. 

“Man you want to get out fast. Just a second ago you weren’t squirming much but now— _ ngh _ —you want to get out of dodge really quick.” Hypnos braced himself and pushed, taking short breaths and making quick prayer to the goddess of childbirth that he could hurry through this. He felt the pressure build. Each push made his pelvis shudder. He needed some support, and part of him ironically wished Thanatos was here. How weird, he thought. Death midwifing a birth. 

Hypnos pushed his hands up his robe and felt the bulge of his nethers. His child was close now. He just had to keep pushing. 

“Do you need a hand there, Hypnos?” Zag’s voice was welcome. Hypnos’ groggy face had a small smile as he motioned for him to stand behind. 

“Just support me while I bear down. I am almost done and I can catch it.”

Hypnos gasped and grunted as he felt the head of his crowning child. Zagreus, for his part, was a solid wall to lean on, and held onto Hypnos as he pushed. A moment later, Hypnos got the head out, and the shoulders soon followed. Zagreus waited with bated breath to catch his first sight of the newborn god.

She looked like Hypnos. Soft lavender skin that blushed blue. Her chubby legs trailed into hooves, though, and she bore what looked like horn nubs on her brow. Hypnos cleaned her up, pressing her sleepy body against his as he laid against Zagreus. 

“Well, that was quick,” he yawned, and started to doze with his equally sleepy daughter.

Zag let Hypnos sleep as he managed to get out of Chaos’s realm, and hopefully escape Hades. 

But no, he wound up back in his father’s house a moment or two later, when once again Burn Flingers tripped him up. Thanatos found him sulking in the lounge, hair still damp with Styx water.

“I hear my brother had his child. Came into the underworld safely.” 

“I helped him deliver. Well, more like acted as a thing to lean on while he had her,” Zagreus said, looking up at the god of death. 

Than frowned. “She? So a daughter? Well, as far as we know.” A beat. “So what did she look like.” 

“Spitting image of her sleepy father. Except she had hooves and little nubs for horns.” A few moments later grim-faced Thanatos softened into a wicked smile. 

“So the Bull did more than watch, it seems.” 

  
  


END 


End file.
